Review Woosh Rio MTB Review/Initial Impressions

[BornAgainCyclist]

PM me the exact words she uses, I have a feeling they are impressive and I could do with a laugh.

 

[Volusia25]

With a bit more testing at 17ah it does indeed make a difference and gives a bit more torque. I cant comment on how it affects range because ive been doing short trips on assist 5 and throttle everywhere recently, and have yet to do the benchmark route.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

31.5v is likely the controllers lvc, ,the battery BMS may be higher 33v - 34v.
Your 34.1v is total pack voltage. If one cell groups voltage is lower then the rest, you will not know the lvc it is cutting out at.

Let's just add some technical matter to that.

The controller has a low battery voltage control, which is normally set to about 31v.

The battery's BMS works at the cell level and controls individual cell voltages, not pack voltage. It's a protection device, so the level is usually below the working minimum. I've seen them down to 2.5v per cell and as high as 3.1v per cell.

Even though the BMS is set to lower cell voltages, it can cut the battery at a higher voltage than the controller because it will cut when the first cell hits the low voltage limit. You could have cut-off when the pack is at 34v with one cell at 2.5v and the rest at 3.5v, which is not uncommon.

OP is measuring his battery after it's had a chance to recover a bit, so I would say that it's reasonably balanced and cutting off because the controller saw it down at 31v. If it were significantly out of balance, it would have cut off at a higher voltage, say 34v, and then recovered to about 36v.

 

[Damian.Doherty]

Hi Volusia, I am happy to report that my Rio MTB should (all going to plan) arrive at my work on Friday. I plan to build it at work and ride it home.

My question to you good sir, is what do I need to assemble the bike. I know I need to put the pedals on and the front wheel so are we looking at just bringing a few spanners?

If so, can you remember which sizes?

This is to save me bringing a whole toolbox to work with me!

 

[Woosh]

there is a small toolkit in the charger box.
The 15mm pedal spanner in the toolkit is not very long, if you have a good 15mm spanner, bring yours.
Don't forget, left pedal is left hand thread, right pedal is right hand thread. I usually put a bit of grease on the thread of the pedals and screw them on with fingers before tightening them with the 15mm spanner.

 

[Damian.Doherty]

That's it? Just a 15mm spanner? I think I can manage that!

 

[BornAgainCyclist]

Remember to warm up first.

 

[Electric Bob]

My Rio didn't come with a tool kit so I wouldn't rely on that. So yes a decent 15mm spanner but you will also need some metric Allen Keys for the handle bars and headset, sorry cant remember the sizes.Oh and a screw driver (Philips No2) for the accessories too.

 

[Damian.Doherty]

Nice one Bob!

 

[Electric Bob]

I would be interested in hearing how you get on with your purchase. I am still getting some on road experience with mine before reporting my findings but will start a new thread for that.

 

[Damian.Doherty]

Well so far I can report that the team at Woosh have been fantastic, speedy responses to all emails and queries and a thorough attention to detail.

Hatti even emailed me to inform me that thanks to the archaic government we currently have not working in Stormont that E Bikes are still illegal in Northern Ireland.

There is an article in the news section about it and hopefully we will be brought in line with the rest of the UK soon.

But anyway, Hatti did her due diligence and offered me the chance to rethink my purchase in light of this new info!

This level of customer care is highly appreciated!

So I'm a big fan of Woosh so far....and I haven't even received the bike yet!

 

[Electric Bob]

That's a pain for anyone living in NI but I guess its unlikely that anyone would be prosecuted for traveling at the heady speed of 15 mph on an e-bike!
I too have found Woosh pretty helpful and communicative.
Good luck with the build, but in reality there is not much to assemble. Get that battery straight on charge though if you are thinking of riding it home!

 

[Damian.Doherty]

Hi Bob,

Bike arrived this morning, battery straight on charge, assembled in my lunch break...took about 30 minutes. Had a quick test ride around the block.

All good!

I was looking through the advanced settings that Volusia mentioned and I cant see where you can increase the Amps from 15amps to 17amps.

I know he said that made a bit of a difference on the hills.

I also saw a Voltage setting that goes from 1 to 5.....is this telling the display when to drop each bar from the meter?

Only thing left to do now is blow the tires up a bit!

 

[Woosh]

I also saw a Voltage setting that goes from 1 to 5.....is this telling the display when to drop each bar from the meter?

you mean the assist levels that you move with the + and - buttons?
They change the amount of push you get from the motor when pedaling.

The manual for the LCD is here:

http://wooshbikes.co.uk/manuals/Rio-KD58C-LCD.pdf

 

[Electric Bob]

Damian, yes well worth downloading the manual from the link Woosh and Volusia supplied. I was surprised at the options available on this seemingly simple unit. I would suggest its best to get used to how the bike goes as supplied before considering tinkering with any of the settings . Mine is still at its stock settings and I am making a mental list of how it could possibly be improved. Realistically though I doubt there is much room for improvement on what is a budget setup. Have fun!

 

[Damian.Doherty]

Well....I just got home, I had a spin around the block at lunch time but that was my first proper ride.....

....it was so much fun!

Riding home on my Carrera Zelos was boring, tedious and just an uphill slog..on the Rio I actually enjoyed the ride home....like every bit of it.

My fastest ever time on my Zelos was 11.12, today I got home in 7.48 second and that was with a back pack that weighed about 4 stone as well!

My tires only had about 20 psi in them (I've now blown them up to 60 psi).

Two things I noticed on the way home.

1. The motor wasn't kicking in when I pedalled. I hit to hit the thumb trigger to activate the motor....once activated it would stay on as long as I was pedalling. If I stopped pedalling long enough for the motor to cut out then started again I hit to hit the thumb throttle again.

Now.....when I had a quick spin at lunch time the bike was working exactly as Woosh intended so the 10 or so colleagues who were all looking at the bike, poking and proding and pushing buttons.......someone may have changed a setting.

2. The gears are jumping all over the place, I will have to watch a tutorial about derailleur adjustment to see if I can dial that out.

In conclusion......I bloody love it!!!!

 

[Damian.Doherty]

Okay, so half a turn on the barrel adjuster and the gears are now behaving themselves!

 

[Damian.Doherty]

But now I'm getting Err 25...a quick Google search tells me this a "Brake abnormality"

What the first things to try here peeps?

 

[Woosh]

that's when you squeeze the brakes and switch on the LCD.
The controller does a self test, if it finds the brakes activated, it shows 25.
Let go of the brakes, the 25 should go.

 

[Damian.Doherty]

Hi Woosh, that was my first thought too, I've turned the bike on and off about 20 times now , I've removed the battery and let it sit for twenty minutes too.


still getting Err 25

I'm no where near the brakes now when turning it on!

I noticed the signal wires seem to be held in through a screw, should I try unscrewing these one at a time?

I thought about disconnecting each brake but there are no breaks in the wires.....just the one from the LCD itself.